We spend our winters at Clerbrook Golf and RV Resort. I love that name; it makes the place sound so classy. Well, as campgrounds go, it is classy. It is a gated community and the guard shack is manned 24/7. That is so they can keep out the riff-raff. Most of it that is. They let me in. Regardless, it is a nice place with nice people.
The campground has 1257 sites with about one-third of those sites having park model trailers on them. A park model trailer is a somewhat fancier trailer than a travel trailer, and owners rent their site year around, while RVers only pay for their site while parked on it. Park models also typically have a so-called Florida Room attached. This is a screened-in room with sliding glass windows all around that nearly doubles the size of the structures living space. Our particular unit has an attached shed that houses a washer and dryer along with some tools and miscellanea. The little breezeway between the shed and the house becomes a parking place for our golf cart.
For trailer trash, we live in relative comfort, as you can probably tell.
I mentioned earlier that this is a nice place with nice people. I have decided that it must be law that only pleasant people can buy RVs. I have the feeling that if you are a grumpy, disagreeable person most RV dealers will refuse to sell you an RV. Either that or any such person who manages to get one learns quickly that he/she will be unhappy (and unwelcome) in most campgrounds. (I suppose it is possible that naturally disagreeable people will find that in keeping with their view of life.) Regardless, you find very few disagreeable people in campgrounds.
A campground with over 1200 campsites becomes a small village this time of year when most of the campsites are occupied with snowbirds visiting Florida to escape the harsh winter weather of their “up north” home. The “village” idea becomes apparent as you walk or ride around the place. Everyone smiles and waves as you pass as if they had known you all their lives. Walking, biking, in golf cart or car, everyone waves to everyone they meet – and usually offer a greeting: “Good morning.” “How are you doing?” “Hey, nice day.”
Joyce and I run into the same “small town” friendliness when we visit our place in Colorado. Once you leave the main highway and start the seven-mile, dirt road drive to our house, everyone you pass in pickup or car will give you a wave of the hand or some other sign of acknowledgment. And if you stop for any reason, anyone passing by will stop to see if you need assistance. They may know you, recognize your car or truck, or not, it doesn’t matter. Stop first and ask questions later. You are likely not there if you don’t belong there, so you must be a neighbor. And neighbors help neighbors. That’s just the way it is.
There are a lot of walkers and bikers here at Clerbrook. Unfortunately, there are a great many who are not walkers or bikers, but who should be. The nation’s obesity problem is not restricted to the young; there are many senior citizens overweight. It is hard to be critical when you do not know what sort of physical limitations they may have that contributes to or makes it difficult for them to get sufficient exercise. It is clear, however, that they have insufficient strength in their arms to push themselves away from the dinner table. I guess a bit of sympathy might be in order. (I’ll have to try that sometime.)
I have a route that I walk most every morning that covers 3.25 miles. I do it in about one hour, which means I am walking a bit over three miles per hour. I used to try to maintain a four-mile-per-hour pace, but I have had to slow down some since my several visits to the cardiac catheterization lab. Joyce gets upset when I collapse alongside the road. It embarrasses her. That, plus she thinks I should have more sense than to push myself to the point of exhaustion. Silly woman. (I have many fine attributes; good sense has never been one of them.)
I must also admit that I am recovering from a common cold. Hence, I have been unable to do my Jack LaLanne imitation morning exercises, so I have to be content with walking. I would be remiss if I did not comment that I had numerous requests from women in the campground that I wear a tight fitting, belted jump suit with short sleeves and do my morning exercises in front of the TV camera so they could follow along. Modesty compelled me to decline. I would feel uncomfortable flaunting my body for their, probably, sexual fantasies. Besides, their flabby, potbellied husbands would hate me even more than they do.
My taut, bronzed, two-pack hard body causes enough distractions now when I visit the pool. I do not want to be the cause or more dissension among my campground female friends and their male partners.
This is, as I said, a small village and maintaining village harmony is important. I will do my part and stay away from the TV camera when doing my morning exercises.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
POLITICAL THEATER AND OTHER WAYS TO CON VOTERS
I am not a Tea Party member but I support the notion of smaller government, especially less government involvement in personal affairs. There likely are times when the government must temporarily step in and help individuals with various aide programs. Such programs should expire after some reasonable time, but a period not to exceed the life of the average elephant. We have government subsidies going to people and industries that have existed for decades. That is wrong. Is it any wonder that these people or industries come to depend on these subsidies?
Some of us used to complain about so many people on welfare who seemed to treat it as a way of life. Three generations of one family -- grandmothers, mothers and daughters -- received welfare payments with all likelihood that the fourth generation, the current welfare mother’s children, is headed in the same direction. That is no different from farm families, say, that receive billions of dollars each year for not working land, not planting crops or some other non-producing farm-subsidy program. And they expect to receive the same next year, and the next year, ad infinitum.
Newly elected Tea Party backed U.S. Reps. Vicky Hartzler, R – Missouri, received $750,000 (!) in farm subsidies last year. When Diane Sawyer of Good Morning America asked if she would vote to eliminate farm subsidy programs as a step toward lowering government debt – supposedly a Republican-Tea Party agenda item – she refused to say yes or no. "Yes, there's a lot of us farmers that have participated in the program(s)," she said, but indicated when Ms. Sawyer persisted in asking the question again only that such agriculture subsidies should be "on the table" for possible spending cuts.
Let us not be gullible, people. No mid-West, farm belt congressperson will vote even to cut much less remove farm subsidies. The same can be said about voting to cut military spending by a congressperson representing a district with a large military-industrial footprint.
Forget the angry campaign rhetoric about reducing government involvement or reducing the national debt. When such programs (and they all do to some extent) impact people back in your home district every politician of either party or political philosophy begins to waffle. It is fine to talk about making cuts in government spending, it is another matter to deliver on that talk, and the newly elected congress does not seem any more willing to walk the walk than the previous congress.
Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, students of the Rush Limbaugh Policy Group, have already indicated that their primary focus will be to see that Obama is a one-term president. They will say many things for the benefit of “the folks back home” (It’s called preaching to the choir) but they have yet to propose any specific debt reduction programs. Boehner’s most significant leadership act thus far is the not-ready-for-prime-time political theater of having the U.S. Constitution read aloud in the House of Representatives.
That is sure to put every new congressperson in the right frame of mind to generate and support good legislation. (It also demonstrates to those new to congress how to waste time with parliamentary maneuvering.) What they need now is someone like Walt Disney to conduct a seminar on how one actually gets things done.
The Tea Party, I fear, just wanted the Democrats out of office. You may remember their motto: JUST VOTE THEM OUT! Indeed, some deserved to be voted out of office. But, alas, too many voters never considered the legitimate question: Replace them with whom?
The first act of these newbies in congress is to force a vote on repealing the Obama health care plan. They know it is futile. They know it will not pass. It is all political theater, and I fear we are in for two more years of such political posturing while our debt and other problems continue to mount.
Some of us used to complain about so many people on welfare who seemed to treat it as a way of life. Three generations of one family -- grandmothers, mothers and daughters -- received welfare payments with all likelihood that the fourth generation, the current welfare mother’s children, is headed in the same direction. That is no different from farm families, say, that receive billions of dollars each year for not working land, not planting crops or some other non-producing farm-subsidy program. And they expect to receive the same next year, and the next year, ad infinitum.
Newly elected Tea Party backed U.S. Reps. Vicky Hartzler, R – Missouri, received $750,000 (!) in farm subsidies last year. When Diane Sawyer of Good Morning America asked if she would vote to eliminate farm subsidy programs as a step toward lowering government debt – supposedly a Republican-Tea Party agenda item – she refused to say yes or no. "Yes, there's a lot of us farmers that have participated in the program(s)," she said, but indicated when Ms. Sawyer persisted in asking the question again only that such agriculture subsidies should be "on the table" for possible spending cuts.
Let us not be gullible, people. No mid-West, farm belt congressperson will vote even to cut much less remove farm subsidies. The same can be said about voting to cut military spending by a congressperson representing a district with a large military-industrial footprint.
Forget the angry campaign rhetoric about reducing government involvement or reducing the national debt. When such programs (and they all do to some extent) impact people back in your home district every politician of either party or political philosophy begins to waffle. It is fine to talk about making cuts in government spending, it is another matter to deliver on that talk, and the newly elected congress does not seem any more willing to walk the walk than the previous congress.
Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, students of the Rush Limbaugh Policy Group, have already indicated that their primary focus will be to see that Obama is a one-term president. They will say many things for the benefit of “the folks back home” (It’s called preaching to the choir) but they have yet to propose any specific debt reduction programs. Boehner’s most significant leadership act thus far is the not-ready-for-prime-time political theater of having the U.S. Constitution read aloud in the House of Representatives.
That is sure to put every new congressperson in the right frame of mind to generate and support good legislation. (It also demonstrates to those new to congress how to waste time with parliamentary maneuvering.) What they need now is someone like Walt Disney to conduct a seminar on how one actually gets things done.
The Tea Party, I fear, just wanted the Democrats out of office. You may remember their motto: JUST VOTE THEM OUT! Indeed, some deserved to be voted out of office. But, alas, too many voters never considered the legitimate question: Replace them with whom?
The first act of these newbies in congress is to force a vote on repealing the Obama health care plan. They know it is futile. They know it will not pass. It is all political theater, and I fear we are in for two more years of such political posturing while our debt and other problems continue to mount.
Monday, January 3, 2011
THE ACCIDENT
It had to happen eventually, and it finally did.
Wood carvers usually end up with a few nicks and cuts on their fingers, even those who are careful. I counted myself among those who are careful. I avoided putting my fingers in harm’s way whenever possible. When not possible, I was very alert with my carving tools, especially my knives.
I am currently whittling roosters, following the style of Chris Lubkemann, who wrote the book.
Chris tells us that your carving blades need to be sharp, very sharp. You are working in fine detail and a slip – caused by too much pressure – can ruin a piece. He writes, “Use whatever helps you get a really sharp bade. My own simple, but effective system consists of several strips of wet-or-dry sandpaper or emery cloth glued or held to a thin strip of wood.” He goes on to explain that the three grits he uses are #120, #400 and #600, and he has used some strips “for at least five years” so that they would more likely “now be classified as #5000!”
I tried to follow his advice. My knives are very sharp.
I usually wear gloves. I always wear one on my left hand, as I am left-handed. My left thumb takes a beating as I draw the knife to it in the process of shaving off a sliver of wood. I had on my left glove this time. Since I was working on a small twig and needed to “feel” it in my hand so I could control it, I had removed my right glove. That set the stage for THE ACCIDENT.
Smaller twigs tend to have a pity center and this one was no exception. As I started a delicate trim on the top of what would be the chicken’s head, my knife hit that soft pity center, slipped through it like a hot knife through butter, and continued on its journey until stopped by the nail on my right index finger. That was just after it made a generous slice of the flesh on my finger.
I immediately dropped my knife and grabbed the finger with my dirty, gloved left hand. I knew there would be blood – I take several blood-thinner medications – and I knew I needed to apply pressure to the wound quickly. And head for the bathroom just as quickly.
Conventional wisdom, taught in every Boy Scout manual, says that a dull knife is dangerous since you must apply more pressure to make a cut and this creates the chance for the knife to slip and cut you. That is true. However, a keenly sharp knife can also be dangerous when it meets little or no resistance and takes off on a journey that ends with your finger.
Be forewarned.
Your Friend: Stubby.
It had to happen eventually, and it finally did.
Wood carvers usually end up with a few nicks and cuts on their fingers, even those who are careful. I counted myself among those who are careful. I avoided putting my fingers in harm’s way whenever possible. When not possible, I was very alert with my carving tools, especially my knives.
I am currently whittling roosters, following the style of Chris Lubkemann, who wrote the book.
I tried to follow his advice. My knives are very sharp.
I usually wear gloves. I always wear one on my left hand, as I am left-handed. My left thumb takes a beating as I draw the knife to it in the process of shaving off a sliver of wood. I had on my left glove this time. Since I was working on a small twig and needed to “feel” it in my hand so I could control it, I had removed my right glove. That set the stage for THE ACCIDENT.
Smaller twigs tend to have a pity center and this one was no exception. As I started a delicate trim on the top of what would be the chicken’s head, my knife hit that soft pity center, slipped through it like a hot knife through butter, and continued on its journey until stopped by the nail on my right index finger. That was just after it made a generous slice of the flesh on my finger.
I immediately dropped my knife and grabbed the finger with my dirty, gloved left hand. I knew there would be blood – I take several blood-thinner medications – and I knew I needed to apply pressure to the wound quickly. And head for the bathroom just as quickly.
Conventional wisdom, taught in every Boy Scout manual, says that a dull knife is dangerous since you must apply more pressure to make a cut and this creates the chance for the knife to slip and cut you. That is true. However, a keenly sharp knife can also be dangerous when it meets little or no resistance and takes off on a journey that ends with your finger.
Be forewarned.
Your Friend: Stubby.
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